Edwards out as Roush Fenway sets 2015 roster

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Nascar

Veteran driver has 23 Sprint Cup Series wins for RFR

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Carl Edwards will not return to compete for Roush Fenway Racing in 2015, but the 34-year-old remained non-committal on where he will take his considerable driving talents.

Roush Fenway co-owner Jack Roush announced his organization’s 2015 Sprint Cup lineup here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway today where teams are preparing for the John Wayne Walding 400 (ESPN, 1 p.m. ET)

The RFR roster will consist of veteran Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., both of whom currently compete in Sprint Cup for RFR, as well as 2014 Nationwide Series regular Trevor Bayne.

"There are so many moving parts here; this was the right time for Roush Fenway to talk about their plans for next year," Edwards said Sunday morning.

"For me, the right time to talk about exactly what I’m doing next year is the same scenario — there are a lot of moving parts, and we will announce everything as soon as possible.

"But today is about racing. I talked to my crew; I talked to Jack, to Jimmy (Fennig, crew chief). Our mission is to go win this race today and win the championship. From a competitive standpoint, that’s the key. That’s where I’m at today.

"When it’s time to talk about all that, I’ll tell you guys and we’ll do it. … It is unfortunate all this is happening on a race day because that’s the No. 1 focus."

Edwards has competed in Sprint Cup for Roush Fenway since 2004. He has 23 wins and has finished fourth or higher in points four times, including 2011 when he and Tony Stewart finished the season with identical points totals. Stewart edged Edwards for the title on the basis of the number of wins during the season.

Edwards is also a 38-time winner in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series and won that series’ title in 2007 with RFR. He has six career wins in the Camping World Truck Series.

Chevrolet team officials acknowledged that they tried to woo the driver into their camp, but it is believed that Edwards, who confirmed his deal for 2015 is "done," will join Joe Gibbs Racing. That group currently fields three Toyota teams in Sprint Cup with drivers Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth.

Kenseth and Edwards were teammates at RFR until Kenseth departed following the 2012 season. In his first year with the Gibbs organization, he won a season-best seven times en route to a second-place points finish.

"You look around at all the stuff that’s going on, not just in the NASCAR world but in all of sports," Edwards said. "Change sometimes just on its own is a good thing from a performance standpoint.

"This is my decision. It’s a decision I made and I didn’t take it lightly because you know how tough these things are for any driver."

Both Edwards and Roush said conversations about the move began approximately one month ago.

Roush, who has won Sprint Cup titles with Kenseth (2003) and Kurt Busch (2004), said an offer was made to retain Edwards.

"Like football, baseball and basketball, athletes move around," Roush said. "We wish it would not happen, but there’s curiosity about what another team’s situation would be like and I think that although I shouldn’t speculate, I think Carl wanted to try something different before he saw his career get in its middle term and its final years.

"Our hopes were to keep him and we were not successful with that."

RFR team president Steve Newmark said the organization prides itself on its abilities as a driver development group — bringing young talent into the sport and then helping groom that talent to grow and progress.

"It’s in our DNA and our heritage," he said.

"In an ideal world, all the drivers and crew chiefs and the over-the-wall guys that we bring up through the system you would retain forever. The reality of it is that that doesn’t happen for a variety of factors — some of it is space constraints and some of it is just other circumstances.

"I think that we recognize when you take the approach we do … trying to develop from within, that these types of circumstances are going to happen."

Jamie Allison, director, Ford Racing said, "We at Ford Racing did everything to facilitate keeping Carl a part of the Ford Racing and Roush Fenway family, but in the end that option did not come to fruition.

"While we are disappointed in his decision to leave Roush Fenway Racing, we certainly want to extend our appreciation for Carl’s contributions winning races and a NASCAR Nationwide Series championship in a Ford, and especially for his outreach to Ford fans."

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Posted on July 27, 2014 by Staff Report

Plan your NASCAR weekend with these on-track, live interview times

All times ET

TV LISTINGS / BUY TICKETS FOR POCONO / BUY TICKETS FOR IOWA / WEEKEND TRACK EVENTS

This week the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series head to Pocono Raceway, while the NASCAR Nationwide Series stops at Iowa Speedway.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 3:

PRE-RACE SCHEDULE
–11 a.m.: NSCS Driver/Crew Chief Meeting (ARCA garage)
–12:17 p.m.: NSCS Driver Introductions
–12:47 p.m.: Intro Presentation of Colors: West Point Military Police Company, Honor Guard Platoon
–12:47:20 p.m.: Invocation by: Nick Terry, Motor Racing Outreach
–12:47:50 p.m.: Intro National Anthem
–12:48 p.m.: National Anthem by: Eric Beddingfield (Signed by David Harclerode representing the Western PA School for the Deaf & the Scranton School for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing)
–12:49:30 p.m.: Flyby TOT: TBD (Turn 3 to 1)
–12:55 p.m.: "Drivers, Start Your Engines" by: Richard Petty
–1:05 p.m.: Green Flag – Go Bowling.com 400 (160 laps, 400 miles)

ON TRACK
— 1 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series GoBowling.com 400 (160 laps, 400 miles), ESPN (Get results)

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 9:30 a.m.: Peak announcement
— 5 p.m. (approx.): NSCS Post Race Press Conference

FRIDAY, AUGUST 1:

ON TRACK
— 9:30-10:50 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice (Get results)
— 11 a.m.-12:20 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice , FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 2:30-3:25 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, FOX Sports 2 (Get results)
— 3:40 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 4:30-5:50 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series practice (Get results)
— 7-8:20 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series final practice  (Get results)

GARAGECAM
— 10:30 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series (Watch live)
— 2 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series (Watch live)

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 9:45 a.m.: Matt Kenseth
— 10 a.m. Jimmie Johnson
— 10:15 a.m.: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
— 12:45 p.m.: Kasey Kahne
— 1:30 p.m.: Jeff Gordon
— 1:45 p.m.: Greg Biffle
— 4:40 p.m. (approx.): NSCS Post Qualifying Press Conference

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2:

ON TRACK
— 9-9:50 a.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, ESPN2 (Get results)
— 10:10 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, ESPN2  (Get results)
— 1 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Pocono Mountains 150 (60 laps, 150 miles), FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 4:40 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, ESPN (Get results)
— 8 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series U.S. Cellular 250 presented by New Holland (250 laps, 218.75 miles), ESPN (Get results)

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 2:40 p.m. (approx): NCWTS Post Race Press Conference

Posted on July 26, 2014 by

RCR driver eligible for final Dash 4 Cash bonus at Iowa next week

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Last year, it was a late caution that allowed Brian Scott to nearly steal a victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Saturday, it was a late caution that denied him any chance.

One year after recording a career-best runner-up finish at the famed track, Scott’s hopes of taking the next step in the Nationwide Series were effectively dashed by a caution which aided frontrunners trying to save fuel. The winner of last weekend’s Dash 4 Cash event settled for seventh Saturday, although the Richard Childress Racing driver remains eligible for another $100,000 bonus in the program finale next week at Iowa Speedway.

Still, on a track that Scott considers one of his best, and where last year he used a late caution to take the lead with six laps remaining before being overtaken by eventual winner Kyle Busch, he clearly had hoped for more.

"Sometimes pit strategy works out in your favor, and sometimes it doesn’t," Scott said after going to Victory Lane to congratulate RCR teammate Ty Dillon, who earned his first career Nationwide win. "Today, it didn’t. Last year, it did. Some cars were able to really stretch fuel, and they got a caution right when they needed it to be able to save just enough."

Scott was among those who pitted in the latter stages of the race, gambling that the many of the leaders would either run out of gas or be forced to trade their positions for fuel. But a caution for a piece of metal debris in Turn 1 with 29 laps remaining gave those up front the chance to save gas, thwarting the plans of the drivers behind them who had pitted. Dillon ran dry in the first turn after taking the checkered flag, too late to help the rest of the field.

"I thought we were in really good position, and then the last caution just hurt us," Scott said. "But that’s racing, and hopefully someday it will pay off for us."

Scott, Dillon, Trevor Bayne and Regan Smith are the four drivers eligible to claim the final D4C bonus next weekend in Iowa. Dillon’s Nationwide victory Saturday, combined with wins earlier this season by Paul Menard (at Michigan) and Brendan Gaughan (at Road America) means Scott’s No. 2 program is the lone RCR team yet to visit Victory Lane in the series.

"I’m really proud of RCR and ECR," Scott said, referring to Earnhardt Childress Engines, which power RCR cars. "We started the year off not even really in the top five in our performance, and the engine shop and the body shop went to work. We’ve made huge improvements, and now we’re battling for wins each weekend. I’m happy with seventh place. It was a good points day, and our teammate won. That’s good for the company. That gives the whole company momentum. We can take that into Iowa next weekend, and maybe it will be our turn in Victory Lane, because all other three teams have won."

The finish kept Scott fifth in the Nationwide standings, 42 points behind leader Chase Elliott. Although Scott is enjoying statistically his best Nationwide campaign, he remains winless in 161 career starts. Trying to end that skid, his team went back to many of the notes from the car it had a season ago at Indianapolis, where the Idaho native nearly broke though.

"I think we were maybe ahead of the curve on some setup things last year that seemed to give us an advantage over the field," Scott said. "This year, it seemed like a lot of the field has picked up on that kind of stuff. We’ve got to keep working. We’ve got to bring back something even better next year, and keep developing our setups. Just got to keep getting faster."

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